It felt like another day in Equestria: another letter from Princess Celestia, another moment of Twilight Sparkle having a near mental breakdown, and of course another attempt by her friends to calm her down. “Twilight darling, honestly you must calm yourself,” Rarity said as the seven of them rode the train to Canterlot. “Not every important letter from Princess Celestia means some horrible catastrophe for Equestria, you know.”
“But what if it is?” Twilight, naturally, was pacing in the aisle way, much to some passengers’ annoyance. “We just had an incident where all of Equestria almost lost all its magic, not to mention it was by a filly, a filly under my supervision!”
“Mmm…I don’t think so…” Pinkie suddenly said as she looked deep in thought.
“Ya don’t think so?” Applejack asked.
“Well…usually every so often something bad happens but usually after that something good happens and considering what just happened was a bad thing I think-”
“Wait, you’ve been keeping track of everything that’s taken place in like the last…how many years?” Rainbow asked.
“I have to,” Spike said. “At Twilight’s insistence of course…”
“Well okay, maybe you could be right,” Twilight said as she finally decided to sit down. “Still, good or bad, the fact that Celestia has summoned us for such an important announcement, at the same time not notifying anypony else, means it’s…well… super important!”
“At least we don’t have to worry about leaving the school unattended since everyone is on break,” Fluttershy said.
“True, at least Starlight was willing to keep an eye at the school in case anything weird happens,” Twilight said. She then closed her eyes and took deep breaths.
“Uh…you okay there Twilight?” Rainbow asked.
“She’s just doing breathing exercises,” Spike explained. “Usually when these letters come in it means Celestia is about to drop a bombshell on us.”
“Thank you for coming on short notice Twilight,” Celestia said, addressing all seven of them as she and Luna stood in front of their respective thrones. “Luna and I felt this was something that had to be addressed in person.”
“It’s no trouble at all, Princess Celestia,” Twilight replied. “Has something happened? Hopefully not something…bad?”
There was a short exchange of glances between Luna and Celestia as they both smiled. “Nothing bad, Twilight Sparkle,” Luna said. “It is…good news, though its also something my sister and I have been talking about for the past few days.”
“Told you,” Pinkie said with a grin.
“As you can see, Equestria has not seen such a golden age of harmony in, well, centuries,” Luna continued.
“Would that be because of us?” Spike said with a confident smile.
“Uh…are we forgetting about all that’s happened in the last couple of years or-ow!” Raonbow said before getting an elbow to the rib from Applejack.
“Because of this, Luna and I have decided…it is time for us to retire,” Celestia said.
The six mares and accompanying dragon all gasped. “Um…Princess Celestia, I only ask this because you said something similar not too long ago but…is this another joke?” Rarity asked.
“We are quite serious this time,” Celestia said. “We have ruled Equestria for many generations-”
“Ahem, well Celestia has a thousand years more than I do,” Luna added.
“-and while we cherish all those memories, the good and bad, we also believe its time for a new perspective, a new representative of our kingdom.”
Twilight could feel all eyes on her. “…Wait me? You’re asking me to take over all of Equestria?” she asked incredulously.
“Princess Cadance and Shining Armor of course will still be in charge of the Crystal Empire and while we are abdicating the throne, we’d be more than happy to help you transition until you’ve finally settled in,” Luna said. “Um…that is, if you’re willing to accept this responsibility.”
“Honestly…I’m not sure what to say,” Twilight said. “I’ve only been a princess for a short time, heck I’ve only had a castle for an even shorter amount of time, this seems like a lot to ask.”
“Your uneasiness is understandable,” Celestia nodded. “For now, we’ll let you think about it. But do know while you will be taking a huge responsibility, you’ll have your friends with you, supporting you.”
Twilight smiled. “Of course, and you’re right, I’ll need to take some time to think about this…I’ll make sure to give you an answer soon.”
Both princesses nodded. “Just one thing,” Luna said. “Until you’ve decided, we’d rather keep this talk between us. No doubt the whole of Equestria will be in shock when they hear the news…”
“If Twilight decides to accept,” Celestia reminded her.
“Yes, of course, my apologies.”
It wasn’t long before the group of seven left and once the doors behind them closed, Luna and Celestia dropped their regal smiles. “Wow, that was easier than I expected,” Celestia said, taking a deep breath.
“I think Twilight took that better than expected,” Luna pointed out.
“Doubtful,” Celestia said. “Right about now she’s probably having a panic attack…not that I can blame her of course. Putting the literal weight of Equestria on her shoulders is no small task.”
“True, but we both know she’s the most capable,” Luna said. “And as her teacher, I know you can vouch for her personally.”
“Indeed,” Celestia nodded. “Still…its weird to hear the word “retirement.””
“Makes you feel old, doesn’t it?” Luna teased.
“Sister, you are only a few years younger so you don’t have much room to talk.”
“Perhaps…but I was still surprised you even brought p the topic a few days ago.”
“It had been something on my mind as of late…”
“You also drank a lot of wine that night as well.”
Celestia blushed. “That too…but while I thought about it, I was wondering if you were willing to do the same. Again…with you being gone…”
“Dear sister, that whole thing with Starlight showed me I absolutely do not want your job.”
“Fair enough,” Celestia said. “Now that that’s finally out of the way…” Her horn glowed and a large parchment of paper appeared. “I believe its time to tackle this old bucket list of mine.”
Luna glanced at the rather large list. “That’s a pretty big list, and don’t forget there’s things I want to do as well.”
“Of course Luna, I think we have plenty of time ahead of us…but why wait when we can start now?”
“Now?” Luna frowned. “Sister, I see that glint in your eye and I should remind you what happened the last time you came up with an idea on the spot.”
“Relax, at most it should take us a few days and it’ll only be a few things between the two of us.”
“And if something should come up while we’re gone?”
Celestia smirked and winked at her. “Then we’ll do what we usually do: let Twilight take care of it.”